A political career on the rebound

This column explores the juncture between celebrity and politics, when stars take on issues beyond the box office and botox.

Will Sir Charles soon be known as Gov. Charles?

Charles Barkley, the former NBA star known during his days at Auburn University as the Round Mound of Rebound, is once again talking about running for governor of his home state of Alabama.

“Alabama, that’s my home. I’m thinking about running for governor; they need my help,” he said this week. In 1995, Barkley promised to run for governor in 1998 as a Republican. That never materialized.

Now that the Republicans control the White House and the Congress, it appears Barkley has bounced to the other side.

“I was a Republican until they lost their minds,” he said earlier this month at a charity golf tournament in Nevada. He later told the Birmingham News: “What I’ve said is I’m rich like a Republican. But I’m not one.”

Hands-on help for Third World kids

Actress Anne Hathaway and her boyfriend, Italian real estate mogul Raffaello Follieri, spent several days in Nicaragua this week helping vaccinate children there against hepatitis A.

Hathaway, who stars in “The Devil Wears Prada,” carefully applied Band-Aids (sporting images of Barbie, Batman and Dora the Explorer) to youngsters at a clinic in San Marcos.

“Kids in Third World countries have so many chips stacked against them,” the 23-year-old actress said in a telephone interview. “This vaccination can take away one more obstacle.”

The three-day mission was funded by Follieri’s foundation, which he established to assist children in developing nations. “We want to be present in every country in Central America,” Follieri said, adding that a similar effort will be held in Honduras in September.

“I’ve gotten very good at opening and applying the Band-Aids,” Hathaway said. “I just wish we could give out the vaccine in candy form.”

A free-speech tour (at $125 per ticket)

As far back as the Woodstock festival of 1969, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young have been known for mixing music and activist politics. Despite the graying hair and thousands of tour miles, the super group known as CSNY is back on the road with the “Freedom of Speech ’06 Tour.”

The band is still politically active, adding a “Free Speech Zone” at the concert locations where the activist group Progressive Democrats of America will register voters and promote candidates. According to its website, PDA is dedicated to ending discrimination, improving healthcare and education and ending poverty for all.

That last goal apparently doesn’t apply to concertgoers: Tickets go as high as $125.

He’s taking it to the streets

Back in 1990, Will Smith got his big break playing “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” a smart-mouth kid who must live with his rich relatives in Bel-Air to avoid Philadelphia’s violent streets.

In a case of reality reversing fiction, Smith recently returned to West Philadelphia -- the actor’s hometown neighborhood -- to participate in a march against violence. Homicides in Philadelphia jumped from 330 in 2004 to 377 in 2005, according to the FBI, a 14.2% increase.

“We’re going to take this walk, hopefully draw a little attention to the problem and get some solutions,” the actor said.

Capturing the late-night buzz

Politics is always a popular topic among late-night talk-show hosts. (Just ask blogger Daniel Kurtzman. He compiles the jokes daily on About.com). Here’s a sampling of the week:

“We won the Miss Universe pageant. Meet Miss Puerto Rico, or as I call her, Miss U.S.A.’s Territory With Commonwealth Status Puerto Rico. She is so beautiful, you almost want to let her vote in federal elections.”

-- Stephen Colbert

“John Kerry said today that if he were president, the current conflict in the Middle East would not be happening. Then his wife, Teresa, said, ‘Yes, I know, dear. Just take out the trash.’ ”

-- Jay Leno

“Earlier today, former President Bill Clinton campaigned for Sen. Joe Lieberman. Clinton got the crowd so worked up that they had trouble sleeping through the Lieberman speech.”

-- David Letterman